


The Prince and The Rogue

by 5ylph_0f_H34r7



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Assassination, Cinderella-type-thing, Crybaby Dirk, Dirk Likes Animals, F/F, Ginger Dirk, Hurt/Comfort, I Just Really Like Writing Hurt/Comfort, Internalized Homophobia, Isolation, M/M, Medievalstuck, Mutual Pining, NOT THOSE KINDS, Nightmares, Not Beta Read, Prince Dirk Strider, Reincarnation, Sacrificing, Spying, That And He Goes Through A Lot, balls, get your head out of the gutter, it's not that bad though, runaways - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2019-10-29 23:56:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 8,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17817956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/5ylph_0f_H34r7/pseuds/5ylph_0f_H34r7
Summary: “W-why--who are you and why are you in my apartment?!”He jumped off the counter, still smiling as if he had just fell in love. “I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself.” He bows, letting his head face down to the floor.“Prince Dirk Strider, the kingdom of Derse’s heir to the throne.”“That doesn’t explain why you’re in my apartment!”Dirk regains his formal stance and continues. “True, but the reason is quite simple. You had been reincarnated after someone in my kingdom killed you for trespassing on castle grounds. After I was assassinated, I came here in this form to somehow tie loose ends.”“That isn’t simple. Plus, it makes no blasted sense!”“For you, maybe. Things like this are not for the weak-minded.”“What is that supposed to mean?!”“I'm just saying that you might not be able to comprehend the situation you’ve encountered.”





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Credits to TrashOfDirkJake on Wattpad and an old friend for plot inspiration! I absolutely love Medievalstuck, so I'm sure this will be a blast to write! Be ready for angst, pining, and a bit of fluff!

It was a beautiful Saturday morning, one that could not occur twice. 

The sky was a silky baby blue, with no pesky white clouds to interfere with it, the lush green that had drained from the grass, the trees had returned from their vacation, and the smell of fresh spring air had intoxicated every open-windowed home.

Not much was different for our protagonist, Jake English, however. He still woke up at nine in the morning, rarely ate anything for breakfast, and stayed home all day. 

He was taking a year off from school, planning to find a suitable college to go to. But, we need to stay on topic. 

As expected, he woke up at nine, got dressed into his usual green t-shirt and jean shorts, then walked out into the kitchen to get something for breakfast, as he was starving from his lack of dinner last night. 

Everything was just how he expected it, except for the little surprise waiting for him on the kitchen counter.

Sitting on the counter was a tall, lanky figure, who looked like a modernized prince. He bore a dark pink cape, held around his neck by a heart-shaped brooch that had the outline on one side, the other filled with the shiny gold material. He also wore a thin, but authentic crown, and earrings that were a slightly lighter color than his cape, shirt, and pants. His ginger hair was also spiked up in a way that shouldn’t be possible, nonetheless done in the era he appeared to be from. Settled on his right eyebrow was a silver ring, with two small distanced metal balls protruding a few centimeters below his bottom lip.

The male looked up from the counter and smiled innocently. “There you are, I was wondering when you were going to wake up!”

He tried to speak, but no intelligible words came out for quite a while.

“W-why--who are you and why are you in my apartment?!”

He jumped off the counter, still smiling as if he had just fell in love. “I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself.” He bows, letting his head face down to the floor. “Prince Dirk Strider, the kingdom of Derse’s heir to the throne.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’re in my apartment!”

Dirk regains his formal stance and continues. “True, but the reason is quite simple. You had been reincarnated after someone in my kingdom killed you for trespassing on castle grounds. After I was assassinated, I came here in this form to somehow tie loose ends.”

“That isn’t simple! Plus, it makes no blasted sense!”

“For you, maybe. Things like this are not for the weak-minded.”

“What is that supposed to mean?!”

“I'm just saying that you might not be able to comprehend the situation you’ve encountered.”

Jake sighs, not in the mood to fight with a medieval prince. He wasn’t going to be able to get him to leave. At least if he let him stay, he might be able to understand the story this, 'Dirk', has made up.

“I guess, since you’re here, you could keep me company until I find a college.”

“College?” ‘This’ll be hard to deal with..’ he thinks.

“It’s a school you go to to gain a higher education.”

“Oh. Seems simple.”

“The concept is, unlike everything else,” He mumbles the last part. He sits down on the couch, inviting Dirk to sit next to him. And eventually, he does. “So explain exactly why you’re here?”

“...Gladly.”


	2. That Fateful Day

It was a cool Thursday night, and Dirk Strider, the kingdom of Derse’s heir to the throne, sits bored on the windowsill of his room. 

He looked around at the now dark but forever silky green of trees’ leaves, the prominent grey of the castle border that was only a few feet away from where he sat, and the bright white of the stars that interrupted the blinding black of the sky.

Then, out of nowhere, he sees a shadow rush across the grass. 

He rushes to the main doors of the castle, warning the castle guards about a stranger who might try to break in.

They nod and turn their attention back to the castle borders, probably paying no attention to him. He isn’t mad like he usually would be, however. It was late and they wanted to sleep. 

He goes back up to his room and sits on his windowsill again, watching intently for the shadow.

After he wasn’t able to see the shadow again, he decided that he was safe and got up. But just to be safe, he grabbed his sword, which had once belonged to a knight close to him, and kept it by his side as he walked down the castle halls aimlessly.

 

Just as he was becoming bored, a blur of brown appeared before him, but it tripped and fell on its face.

He rushes over to the person and helps him up. Even if they were trespassing, he cared about others’ safety. You know, being their prince and all.

“A-are you okay?”

“Y--I sure hope so.”

As soon as he had the slightest glimpse of the stranger’s face, his heart skipped a beat. 

The sword he had been carrying dropped to the floor.

He was beautiful.

Dirk bows after hesitating for quite a while. 

“Dirk Strider..i-if you didn’t happen to know” 

“I didn’t know, actually. I had just arrived here. My name’s Jake English, at your service.”

The first thing he noticed was the immensely stereotypical hood he wore around his neck and how the top was pulled down and rested on his shoulders. He then started noticing other things about him, like his cow-licked brown hair that looked as it was somehow a perfect mix of dense and fluffy at the same time, his golden brown skin that contrasted greatly against Dirk’s own pale white skin, and the dirt that smeared across his face, more in some places than others.

“W-well since you didn’t know, I’m the pr--heir to the throne, at your service. But-” he was scared to say it, in fear his Jake would leave. Wait.. His Jake?! He couldn’t be having these sort of thoughts! It was wrong to like the same gender! Get it together, Strider.

“-W-why are you in the castle?” 

“Uh-I--” He stammers.

“I wanted to take...a look around! Yeah, yeah.”

Being the gullible idiot he was around Jake, he believed him.

“I’ll let it slide this time, but next time don’t sneak in like that. I don’t know if you know this, but it’s against the rules.”

He felt bad scolding the beautiful boy in front of him, even more so when he looked back at at Jake to see his emerald green puppy eyes.  
Part of him also felt disappointed. Didn’t this fool know that it was against law to trespass onto royal property?

Jake broke the silence that had hovered over them, silent and noticeable as fog.

“Well, since we’ve become at least a little acquainted, why don’t I come tomorrow night so we can talk more?”

Dirk forcefully broke out of his worry-filled trance at the sound of Jake’s heavy British accent.

“I--uh, sure!” He stammers, having no idea what it was he just agreed to. 

“See you later!” Jake calls as he jumps out the window, climbs over the castle border, and into the night that had settled in it’s darkest state.

What did he just get himself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So instead of updating every Wednesday, I'm going to update every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday because the 'Post' button is addicting and I still need time to write. Anyways, see you next chapter! :D


	3. The Breakfast Table

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you all know, Derek is Alpha Dirk, and David is Alpha Dave

He fell asleep on his windowsill a few hours later, which left him only about two or three hours of sleep.

“Dirk...Dirk!”

He was shaken awake by his younger brother, Dave Strider.

“Time for breakfast. David didn’t want you to not be there today.”

Dave strides out of the room, followed by Dirk jumping off the windowsill and into his room to change into clean clothes for the day.

Once he arrives downstairs, he’s met with the eyes of everyone at the table. His sisters, Roxy and Rose, Dave, and his older brother, David. Derek was nowhere to be seen.

“What? D-did I do something wrong?”

David interrupts the silence that had fallen over the room in the few seconds after Dirk had spoken. “Not at all, Dirk. Just-sit down.”

He sits down next to David, instantly feeling the trusting aura that he carries around him without even knowing. David was the one he trusted most, and usually confided in him with serious things. Things that he didn’t mind being publicized were given to Roxy, Rose, or Dave.

Derek was not to be trusted.

“So..um, why did Dave wake me up telling me that Derek wants me at the table? Since...he isn’t at the table himself..” He motions to the now empty chair were Derek would usually be seated at.

“Well-” This time it was Roxy’s voice he heard. “-a maid apparently saw someone dashing through the castle last night when all of us were asleep, and we wanted to know if you know anyone from inside or outside the castle that would intrude on us like that.”

His eyes widened, but just enough so nobody noticed. He mostly hoped Rose didn’t see. She could practically read minds based on looks alone.

“N--no, you guys know I don’t interact with subjects often. Much less with people outside the kingdom.”

“He is right.” David. “Most of us know all of the subjects’ names, personalities, and possible motives, and no one knows someone who would-” he waits for someone to object. He continues once no one does. “-so obviously it must have been someone outside of the kingdom.”

They all nod.

Derek suddenly appears in his chair. Dirk only notices once he turns his head to look at Roxy, who sat right next to him.

“So, whatchy’all talking about?”

Dirk mentally groans. He hated how easily Derek talked, giving no regard to the formality that everyone else tries to sustain.

“We were just talking about the well-being of the kingdom. Updates on crops, things like that.”

Derek sighs. “Now I regret coming over here. I want to talk about something exciting, like an intruder or something like that.”

Everyone stiffens. Derek was not to know about the beautiful intruder for secrecy reasons. They all learned the hard way that the eldest Strider could not keep a secret from the kingdom. Earlier in the year someone had tried to kill someone of the royal family, though who the target was was never discovered. They had told Derek, also telling him that he could not tell anyone outside the castle. They had thought they were safe until a few months later, until they noticed that the kingdom had been running around like decapitated chickens. Someone had told them that there was possibly an assassin or flat-out murderer on Derse’s soil, and you should know who.

So they had decided, obviously without Derek, that they were not to tell him anything that could upset the public.

This was one of those things. And sadly, Dirk felt like this was going to escalate into much more than just an intruder.

“Did you guys eat without me?” He whines. Dirk despised him greatly, and his whining only made it worse.

“Yes, actually.” Dirk butted in. He walked out of the dining hall and went back to his room. He couldn’t stand Derek’s being there for more than a few minutes, so he was thankful he wasn't around often.

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of the day was spent thinking about the beautiful stranger he had met last night. He most definitely had mixed feelings about him. One one hand, he was amazingly adorable, but on the other, he wouldn’t ever be able to date him, and he is an intruder that could possibly be dangerous.

At some point he had wanted to go to David about his dilemma, but he would probably be executed if anyone found out about his supposed crush.

 

That night, he woke up to a small pebble hitting his face. He expected to wake up to Dave, since he would normally do that to wake Dirk up when he couldn't sleep, and he had insomnia, so it happened a lot.

“What do you want, Dave? You’ve woken me up every day this week.”

“Think again, chum!” Dirk perks up and his eyes open quickly, but not quick enough to deserve the adjective snapped.

He sat up, and smiled once he saw the male sitting in his window. “Hello, Jacob.”

"That’s my father’s name, mine’s just Jake.”

“Oh, my mistake.”

“It’s quite alright, chap! It seemed you were so bloody excited to see me again, so I thought I would let myself in this time.”

“You mean _once again_.”

“Oh, right!” He smiles, and Dirk’s world doesn’t seem so bland and colorless anymore.

“So, I’ve been wondering,” He blankly states. “How did you not know the royal family of this kingdom? I’m sure we’re world famous after what happened with the assassination attempt and whatnot.”

“Oh, well I’m pretty new to the area, mate! And I don’t pay attention to the news, there’s nothing there I’d desperately need.” He shrugs, and the way his lips curl into a smile almost instinctively makes Dirk’s heart run out of control. This shouldn’t be happening! Being attracted at least a little to him would be treason! Control yourself Dirk, as long as no one knows you’ll be fine.

As Dirk has his mental breakdown, he carries on his conversation with Jake throughout the night, somehow avoiding what was going on in his head.

After what seemed like all of five minutes, Jake bid his farewells and hopped out the window, taking Dirk’s sanity and well being with him to who knows where. All Dirk knows is that he can’t wait to see him again.


	4. What if?

These visits came and went for years, and Dirk’s crush only got larger and larger. 

“What do you think about me possibly becoming a page to you? You could train me on the fine art of sword fighting, so if becoming a Page fails, I could be a Knight, and could keep my promise of never leaving your side!” 

Dirk knows his last sentence has no intimate meaning, but he can't help but think his feelings aren’t unrequited.   
“Uh, sure, seems fair” 

After that day, Dirk trained him with the best of the best material every night in the courtyard. 

It only took a few months after they started their training, when Dirk was summoned to the throne room to pick his page. It was amazingly hard trying to contain his excitement while walking down the stairs behind David.

Jake looks at him excitedly once he was in sight, and Dirk returns the gaze. No matter who showed up beside him, Jake was his first choice. 

“Take your pick, Dirk.” David says, motioning to the men before him and breaking the tense silence that followed the two Strider boys as they walked into the large, dark purple room.

He stalls a bit, almost feeling all of the boys’ racing heartbeats. Jake, however, was as calm as could be. He was almost too confident. He considered not picking him, but one of the others, such as the taller male, decorated with dirty brown hair, pale skin and scattered freckles. He reminded him of Dave and David if he squinted.

Jake’s expression contorts to one of severe nervousness, and you smirk for a second before pointing to him and announcing, “Him.” 

They both smile slightly at each other as Jake walks next to Dirk, watching the others leave. Some left in disappointment, and some with traces of relief. 

“Now,” David says, looking down at the list of names in his hands, “Jake English, Dirk will show you around the castle to give you a brief look at where everything is.” Jake had been around most of the areas around Dirk’s room, so he decided to skip those parts. He started with the ballroom and dining room, skimmed through the rest, and ended with the entirety of the courtyard that settled in the middle of the castle, making the actual structure somewhat like a hollow square. 

“..And that’s the garden, mostly tended to by Jade, our handmaid, but I guess if you’re bored you can tend to it.”

“Holy mackerel! Do you even explore, run around at all?”

“Not really no,” He says, starting to walk back inside. 

Jake scoffs and Dirk cracks a slight smile. “I’m more of an inside person, that and I don’t want my clothes to get too ragged. They do cost a lot to make, y’know.” 

“Well of course! I wouldn’t expect any different for someone such as yourself!” He smiles. 

“Are you complimenting me?” Dirk says, feigning surprise. Jake complimented him all the time, and Dirk wonders some nights if it’s Jake’s way of flirting with him. It wouldn’t be too bizarre considering how subtle he likes to make things. Maybe not the best quality for a Page, but he’s sure he can teach Jake out of it.

“It’s probable, Strider.” He smirks, ending the conversation and leaving you dumbfounded.


	5. Preparation

That night, a party was held in the ballroom to celebrate the new Page. Once Jake found out, he couldn’t contain his excitement, making him more animated and starry-eyed than usual. Of course, this killed Dirk. Every time Jake started rambling about how he’d never warn fancy clothes, or how he’d never been to a party thrown by the royal family, Dirk wanted to kiss him more and more. 

“Oh, this party will be aces, I’m just sure of it!” He exclaims from the bathroom where he was changing into his formal wear for the night, sure to glue Dirk’s eyes on him.

“Once you get there, it won’t be that big of a deal.”

“Sure it will! This is my first ball, after all!” 

“It’s just a lot of standing around, at least for the royalty present.”

“Well, I’m not in the royal family, am I?”

“I guess not, but you are my page.”

“The ball is in my honor! I doubt they won’t let me socialize!”

“You’d be surprised.”

He sighs loudly, loudly enough for Dirk to hear from outside the room. He waltzes out, and Dirk has to fight harder than usual to grab his sun kissed face and kiss him, after four years of holding these feelings back. Someday I will, he thinks, just not today. 

“What do you think, chap?” He spins, twirling as if he was wearing a flowing skirt. 

“Charming.” His turns red as he says it, his mind spiraling into what could possibly happen next. He would quit his job, and he would go back to thievery, and you’d never be happy again, and your family would never accept you because your first and only page already left within a week an-. Oh, he said something.

“Sorry, repeat that?”

“I said you don’t look too bad yourself, Strider.”

He blushes even brighter, looking away to possibly hide the strong crimson on his face. Whether he didn’t notice or pretended not to, Dirk will never know. He takes a step forward, studying the side of Dirk’s face. He couldn’t bring yourself to look at him. He’d probably kill you if you said you liked him, in fear of his own safety. 

“Dirk, are you quite alright?” 

You hesitantly turn toward him, nodding as you do. “Of course, a Strider is always collected and poised.” “You tell that to yourself too much. You can show your emotions, at least around me.” He gently cups your cheeks, and when you look up from your view fixated on your magenta, knee-length boots, his emerald eyes were filled with worry and concern, and although the two were synonyms, they might as well be antonyms on his face. His eyebrows were pinched together, and the sides of his mouth were forced down into a frown. You hated to see him like that, so you say, “I’m fine, really.” You pull away from the contact gently, and your cheeks become cold and hot, the ghost of Jake’s touch still clinging to his skin. When he pulls away, he couldn’t help but notice the disappointment on his face, again, an entirely different look. He couldn’t help but get his hopes up.


	6. The Ball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter we meet Porrim and Meenah, and Dirk decides to let loose a bit.

He steps into the room, his hands behind his back and his gaze pointed at the throne beside David’s, the place he was to sit for the majority of the night. He had severely mixed feelings about that chair. One one hand, it kept him from having to socialize with the people he rules, but on the other hand, it keeps him in, most of the time, unwanted isolation. He hasn't spoken to any of his family members in a while, even though he lives with them, so maybe if Jake goes to, ‘make new friends and acquaintances’, as he says, he can talk to them. 

Jake follows behind him like a lost puppy, and you find it quite cute, like everything else he does. He stays be Dirk’s side when he sits down, however, instead of wandering off like you expected him to. 

“You’re welcome to socialize if you’d like, Jake.’” You wave, and he rushes off to the nearest lonely folk he can find. He guesses he just needed that little push. 

He turns to Roxy, who was seated beside him, and says, “Roxy, is the staff serving alcohol tonight?” He didn't like referring to the castle workers as 'slaves' as the others do, it was too demeaning.

She raises an eyebrow and giggles. “The infamously sober Dirk Strider wants to get hammered with me?” 

You waves him off. “Shut up. I can let myself go for a night.”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with the English boy, does it?” She asks, her eyebrows bringing themselves together in genuine concern. You should tell her, you think. She’s your sister, she wouldn’t betray you like that.

“What if I said it was?” He says, trying to play it off as a totally unrealistic hypothetical question.

“I would have you executed,” she laughs, as if it was a normal thing to say. “Homosexuality is a sin against God, after all!”

“Y-yeah, yeah.” He stammers, his face going pale. “I think I'm going to go see if Meenah or Porrim are out there.” He says, trying not to stand up too quickly. 

 

After a while of looking, you spot a familiar black-haired female a few feet away. You sigh in relief and walk over to her. 

“Porrim, thank god you’re here.” He says, anxiously wanting to tell her everything.

“Dirk? Yo+u’ve co+me to+ me suspicio+usly quickly.” 

“I have something to tell you, but it can’t be here.” 

“O+k?” 

He leads her outside the ballroom, and quickly starts talking. “You have a girlfriend, right?” 

“Yeah.”

“So...I think I like my new page.”

She gasps, a smile slowly creeping on her face. “Finally! Yo+u like so+meo+ne! Go+d, I was wo+ndering when so+meo+ne wo+uld meet yo+ur standards!”  
He quickly shushes her, frantically looking around. No one was there, thankfully. “Not so loud!” His eyes gloss over once the words escape her mouth, and Porrim quickly notices. 

“Y-yo+u do+n’t want to+ have a crush o+n him, do+ yo+u...” She says, her voice lowering for two reasons. Dirk knows the two full well. He wishes he didn’t. 

He walks to his room, Porrim quick to follow. Once he sits on his bed, the tears he tried so desperately to fight back flow from his amber eyes, and Porrim quickly embraces him. If Dirk was a troll like Porrim, they’d no doubt be morails. Porrim has tried to convince him to reach a decision about it, but he’s decided that unless he magically turns into a troll someday, they’ll be borderline, as infuriating it might be for her. 

“Hey, hey..” she whispers, “It’ll be o+kay. Just tell him, and yo+u guys can be in a secret relatio+nship, like me and Damara.” Dirk can tell she’s trying her best to calm him down, help him look at the positives, but it only makes it worse. He chokes out a loud sob hen quickly covers his mouth, hoping no one outside the room heard him. 

She runs one hand through his ginger hair and draws light circles on his back with the other. 

 

The next half-hour was quiet, save for the uncontrollable sobbing coming from the boy. All the stress of unrequited feelings were now free, and in the hands of someone incredibly trustworthy. They had known each other since they were kids, after all. 

Dirk was now sitting with Porrim and another childhood friend, Meenah, while they told him and each other the latest gossip about virtually every topic. 

“Anyway, did you )(ear about Karkat and Kanaya?” Meenah says, smirking and turning to Porrim. It amuses you how chummy they were in real life, while in public they seemed to antagonize each other endlessly. 

“What’s she do+ing no+w?” 

“I )(eard from Feferi that t)(e two were...y’know…”

He bursts out laughing, Meenah following suit. He didn’t really know why, it wasn’t that funny. Probably still delusional from the half hour crying…

Once you calm down you excuse yourself from the able he three of you were sitting at to grab a drink. As Roxy implied earlier, he wasn’t much of a drinker, but he really didn’t care tonight. Porrim could stay with him overnight then everyone would think you finally hooked up with her and everyone would get off your case about Jake. Hmm. I’ll have to discuss that with Porrim, he thinks. It was a pretty good idea if he thought about it. Either that or his mind was already getting lucid by the thought of chugging down an entire bottle of wine. Probably the latter. 

He sneaks a bottle, plus another for Porrim, from the bar and successfully weaves his way through the tables and crowds of people loitering around. The room was set up similar to a wedding reception, with lavishly decorated tables and dance floor for later, except the table of ‘main men’, as Dave likes to call them, is in the front, by the two doorways on either side. In case of an emergency, those at the table where to leave first. That’s why David enforces that they all be there as much as possible. No one follows it, though. They’ve all got people to talk with.

He sits down, passes the extra bottle to Porrim, and cracks open his own, pouring a bit into the glass in front of him. 

“Woa)(, Dirk? Getting drunk? At a formal event?” Meenah gasps. 

“Shut up,” he smiles. “Porrim, if I get too drunk, you and Meenah have permission to stay here tonight.”

“Will do+” She smiles and fake-salutes, and you smile again. What could you ever do without these two?


	7. The Drunkard

“Porrim, if I wasn’t gay...I would sooooooooo date you..” Dirk giggles. It was currently nine in the afternoon, and Meenah weas having quite a bit of fun with Dirk.  
Porrim was having fun for a different reason. Once Jake got back from the ballroom, she would leave him and Dirk together, no doubt leading to well-deserved happiness on Dirk’s side. Dirk had been so lonely for so long, and he deserves someone to like Jake.

“Dirk, let’s play trut)( or dare.” Meenah says, a smile slowly creeping on her face. Before Dirk could answer, Porrim interrupted with, “I think I hear Jake..” Sure enough, a series of footsteps came down the hallway and Jake almost threw open the door, he was so excited to tell Dirk about what happened. 

Porrim and Meenah stood up in almost-unison, and Porrim says, “He’s drunk, be careful,” before giving him a pat on the shoulder and leaving the room with Meenah on her heels.

Dirk flops forward on the bed, moaning in a childlike way. “They left me! I thought I was their friend!” Tears collect in his eyes and Jake rushes over to him. “D-Dirk! That girl told me you were drunk, bu I didn’t think you were this hammered!””

Dirk, instead of crying, starts laughing uncontrollably, the tears that had wet his eyes seconds before falling due to his roarus laughter. 

“Dirk? Oh blast, I’m terrible at comforting people!” 

Dirk looks at the tan male sitting beside him and laughs softer, slowly getting over his random laughing fit. “Y-y’know-” he hiccups violently but continues nonetheless. “-I gotta tell you something!”

Jake nods. “Yes?”

“I got these feelies for someone, but I’d dieeeeeeeeeeeeeee if I told them! I can’t remember why, but I just would! His name is, uh...J...Joke! Hehe, yeah! Joke!”

Jake was dumbfounded. Did he mean him? “D-do you mean me, bloke?”

He giggles again and takes Jake’s face in his hands. “Of course it’s you! Your name’s Joke!” With that, he smashes his lips against Jake’s violently, and once he realized what was happening, he couldn’t help but kiss back. 

 

The next morning Dirk wakes up to a splitting headache, and the slightly taller brunette attached to his chest, both their tops discarded and laying at their feet. Hundreds of thoughts rushed through his mind, but the only one he seemed to comprehend was to sit up and have a panic attack. His breaths become irregular, and his surroundings seem to get blurry. 

Eventually, after the panic attack had passed, Jake rubs his eyes and sits up. “Good morning, love.” He smiles, and the waves of emotion from before hit him once again, just this time not as hard. 

‘I love him so much….but if I date him we’d have to either live on the run and never see my family or friends again or get found out and die...neither one of those things seem pleasurable.  
Well, since we’re in his situation we might as well tell him what’s on your mind.’

“Good morning.” you groan, suddenly remembering how bad your headache was pushing at the inside of your skull. 

He had already pieced together what happened, but it still didn’t get any less bizarre. ‘I knew I would do some stupid stuff, that’s why I had Porrim-Porrim! She left me alone last night with Jake!’ He rushes off the mattress, hurrying to find and get his clothes on and rush out the door, leaving Jake confused, and honestly, more lovestruck than before.


	8. The Stray

Dirk carefully jumps off the midnight black horse and runs his hand up her neck as he walks forward, attaching a rope from her reins to a nearby tree, smiling and giving her a carrot to snack on while he was inside. 

He walks in front of the door, rapping on the old wood four times, in a pattern the two had made up as kids to recognize each other. 

An asian-looking woman clad in dark red appears at the door, Damara. 

“Greetings, Damara. May I talk to Porrim?”

She sighs and speaks, in Japanese, surprisingly.

“彼女はパン屋に、ここでオフではありません.” Good thing he learned Japanese a few years back. At least it actually has a use now.

“いつ戻ってくるかわかる?”

She shrugs and closes the door, almost hitting Dirk’s nose. He walks back to the horse, untying the rope and sighing. “Not yet, girl.” He doesn’t know what he’s anticipating, but he guesses it was telling Porrim off. He’s sure she wasn’t ill-intentioned, but he can’t decide whether he really did or didn’t want her to do what she did. Perhaps he did. 

“We might as well walk around, hm?” He asks the animal. 

“I take your silence as a yes.” He takes the rope in his gloved hand and leads Sunshine into the trees by Porrim’s house, the ones the pair had traversed thousands of times, playing with wooden swords and brittle sticks. Sometimes he longs for those days, when things were simpler and he didn’t have to worry about hiding himself or his boyfriend. Was Jake his boyfriend? It might make last night less awkward, but what if they broke up, or got found out? All of this was too stressful to think about, he decides, best not to.

A few minutes later Dirk had found a clearing and decided to sit there for a while, along with the horse. It was relatively quiet, save for Dirk’s rambling to Sunshine, usually about nothing important. He’s learned to not say anything confidential outside of castle grounds. A few minutes after he had gone quiet, he hears a whimper from outside the clearing, and soon enough a small red fox strides towards the two. Dirk gushes like a total dork then picks it up, careful not to hurt it.

“Hello, fox! What are you doing here?” He smiles, setting it in his lap. It jumps up, placing it’s paws on Dirk’s shoulders and does something close to a smile, making Dirk’s heart melt. “You’re coming home with me, little one. Perhaps David will like you.” He touches his nose to the fox’s small wet one, and picks it up like a child. He grips the rope and walks back to the castle, waving to the occasional passerby.

When he gets back, he realizes that if he were to keep he fox, he’d have to name it. “Cherry, perhaps. Or Yuki?” They ‘smile’ when he says Yuki, so he goes with the name.  
He leaves Sunshine in the horse stables behind the castle and walk into the front doors, Yuki now following behind him. He turns to the red fox and puts a finger to his lips, although he knew they wouldn’t do much. 

Dirk and Yuki sneak up to the prince’s room, startling when he found Jake still in his room, although it looked like he had already bathed. 

“Dirk? What’s that you've got there?”

“Uh-” He picks up the fox and sets it on the bed. “This is Yuki, I found her in the woods. Can we keep them?” He smiles, both Yuki and Dirk made puppy eyes a Jake, and it amazed him how in-sync the two seemed to be already. Dirk wasn’t one that long, was he?

“O-of course!”

The ginger smiles widely and hugs him “Thank you!”

Jake smiles in return, falling more in love with the boy by the second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I would definitely be too lazy to translate, here are the translations for Dirk and Damara's conversation:
> 
> Dirk: 'Greetings, Damara. May I talk to Porrim?'  
> Damara: 'She's not here, off to the market.'  
> Dirk: Do you know when she'll be back?'
> 
> I tried to put these phrases back into a translator, but the translations were all jumbled so I went with I put in. 
> 
> See you next chapter!


	9. The Question

That night Dirk fell asleep with his arm draped around Yuki instead of Jake, and, he had to admit, he was kind of jealous. 

By morning, however, the two were clinging together as if their life depended on it, with Yuki curled up in the small of Dirk’s back. Jake was the first to wake up this morning, and immediately the nervousness of asking, ‘Are you my boyfriend?’ rushed into his head. What would Dirk say? What would he do if Dirk said no? How, how, how?!

Dirk wakes up a few minutes later, his hands still wrapped tightly around Jake’s waist, who was now sitting up. 

“What’s wrong...you seem worried.” His voice is gristly, and Jake feels heat rising to his cheeks.

Abort mission! Abort! Mission! “I-I’m fine.”

“Mmm...alright” He sighs and lays back down, draping the comforter over his shoulder, turning with his face towards the slightly taller boy. He looked so peaceful while he slept, contrasting greatly against his usual, somewhat stressed look. He could distinctly tell where his worry lines were, and as much as his hands urge to trace over them, Jake knows Dirk’s a light sleeper. 

He distracts himself by looking for Yuki, who had mysteriously disappeared. He carefully leans over the sleeping prince and spots the ball of red fluff curled up by the bed leg. ‘What a cutie..’ he thinks, really thinking about both of the red-haired beings before him. 

‘When he wakes up again, ‘ he thinks, ‘I’ll ask him, for sure!’

 

Inevitably, he didn’t. Everyone was now seated around an oak table, silently scarfing down their waffles. This wasn’t his first breakfast with the Stri-Lalondes, but there’s a new energy settled above the table, or, more specifically, him and Dirk. Neither of them had spoken to each other since Dirk woke up again, and for some unknown reason, Jake was grateful for it. On the other hand, he was nervous Dirk didn’t want to talk to him anymore. He didn’t know what he had done, but there was a possibility! Especially after yesterday night!

Once the two were done with their meals, Dirk led him out to the courtyard, glancing at you only once or twice. 

“Jake, I know you’ve been incredibly nervous lately, so I think I will take the liberty in saying it.” His cheeks flush red, and he looks away, only capturing Jake’s attention even more 

“W-will you be my..” he looks around, his eyes widening a fraction. “B-boyfriend?”

Jake takes the shorter man’s hand, his ghostly pale skin sticking out against Jake’s dark, freckled hand. He brings Dirk’s knuckles to his lips, kneeling down with a feigned grace. He holds his lips to Dirk’s hand, in somewhat of an extended kiss, and mumbles, “I’m sure you know the answer to that, my prince.” 

When he stands, both of the boys were impressed-no, shocked is a better word for it-at how smooth Jake was. 

“Wow, has my charm finally rubbed off on you, English?”

“Oh shush, Strider. You know you don’t have any”

“I got you, did I not?” The edges of Dirk’s lips quirk upward, and Jake’s heart melts in the most cliche way possible. 

“I suppose that’s true.”

“You suppose?”

Jake nods, smiling wider than before. “I suppose.”

He sighs and says, “There is no hope for you, English.”

“I could say the same to you.”

The two laugh, their hearts fluttering at the same time. Now, their only care is making sure no one finds out. 

Easier said than done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this chapter seems a bit short, I've hit a bit of a writer's block, and writing is usually the best way to get out of it, so, please excuse me if these next few chapters seem rushed or out of place.


	10. The Forest House

After their meetup in the courtyard, the two boys went separate ways, Jake going into the town to catch up on his friends, Jade, John, and Jane, and Dirk going back to Porrim’s forest house to tell her everything.  
The more Dirk thinks about it, the more feminine he acts around or even thinking about Porrim. Too much time spent with her, he guesses.  
He rode on Sunshine again, fully planning on Porrim to dote on her, as usual. Three quick raps on the door and Porrim, in her pajama-clad glory, stands in the door.

“Lazy day, hm?”

“Yo+u kno+w it.” She steps backwards, allowing you space to step in. “What brings yo+u here to+day?”

“I have got some good news”  
Her eyes light up as she sits on a well-crafted oak chair, one that he believes has been passed down the Maryam family for years. Porrim has a little sister around Rose’s age, and they spend a lot of time together. He wonders where she is.

“Is it abo+ut the English bo+y?”

“He has a name, actually-”

“Hm?”

“-Jake. English. I guess you were partially correct.”

She smiles, as if she wasn’t already. “Did yo+u two+ finally ho+o+k up?”

“It has only been four days...but, yes. We have.”

She abruptly stands and throws her arms around him, feeling a wave of pride over her being. “I knew it!”

He stumbles backwards as she attaches herself to him, but quickly, although reluctantly, returns the hug. She pulls away after a few seconds, and her eyes are somehow still sparkling.

“Tell me everything! Ho+w did it happen, where, all the juicy details!”

“Wouldn’t you like to wait for Meenah?”

“We can tell her later!”

He sighs and sits down on another chair next to the one Porrim sat in earlier He recalls everything detail by insignificant detail, much to his own annoyance. He isn’t a writer, he knew that much, but, who was he to let Porrim down?

“...And then we sat in the grass for a while, just talking about the past…’agreement’, if you’d like to refer it to as that.”

“And then yo+u came here to tell me?”

“And then I came here on Sunshine to tell you everything.”

She gasps again and walks outside, and he can’t tell if she was reluctant to walk away from the subject, or if she genuinely wanted to see the horse outside.  
They spent the next few hours dancing around the night of the ball, but it wasn’t like Dirk didn’t remember. He just didn’t find a time to bring it up. She seemed much more excitable though, and there was no way Dirk wouldn’t notice. He asked her about it at some point, but she just shrugged and said, “It’s just a good day, I guess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again for the short chapter, this time I wasn't blocked I just procrastinated all day...I did have inspiration for this chapter, but I lost it somewhere along the way, please forgive me?


	11. The Lie

That night the two boys had established a rule, no intimacy until after 12, when no doubt everyone was asleep. Which, as anyone might’ve expected, left them staying up till three or four in the morning. To their surprise, however, they were never tired in the morning like they thought they would be. For Dirk, at least. Sometimes Jake would fall asleep at the dining table, but Dirk only found it more endearing.

Today was one of those days. 

“Jake, honey, the love of my life, you need to wake up..”

He groans, bringing the orange comforter farther up his face. 

He wraps his arms around the tan boy, forcing him to sit up then kissing the side of his neck. Jake just clings to him even tighter, smooshing his cheek against Dirk’s chest. He sighs and picks him up, standing by the side of the bed, then kisses his forehead quickly and drops him on the bed. 

His eyes snap open as his bare skin hits the sheets, and despite himself, Dirk can’t help but giggle. 

“Are you awake now?”

“Yes, yes.”

He smiles, earning a frown from Jake, and although he knows her wasn’t really sad, Dirk couldn’t help feeling guilty. 

“Everyone is downstairs eating breakfast, or, waiting to eat breakfast. They are waiting for you, lazy.”

He groans again, sits up, and gets dressed the quickest Dirk’s ever seen. He wouldn’t want everyone to think anything they shouldn’t, after all.

They walk down together after a few minutes, and David looks at you worriedly. Dirk gestures to the boy beside and says, “This one was not to keen about waking up.”

Roxy giggles, and you sit down beside her, Jake seated on his other side. 

“So, I meant to tell you earlier, Di-Stri, but what’s between you and Porrim?”

He smiles smugly, and says, “We’re together now. All mine.”

She laughs and throws an arm around Dirk’s shoulder. “I knew it was going ‘ta happen at some point! Nice job scoring her, bro!”

Dave looks at him in doubt, but Dirk just brushes him off and starts to eat his breakfast, and finishes in a few minutes in silence, as usual.

After a conversation with David in the hallway, the duo go to the horse stables, taking Sunshine from her ‘comfortable’ pile of hay and wood.

“What are we doing today?” Jake questions, breaking the silence.

“I’d like to take you to meet someone. A childhood friend, if you must.”

He smiles and Dirk’s heart skips a beat. What right did this boy have to be so cute?

 

Like usual, it took roughly fifteen minutes to reach Porrim’s house, but Jake’s warm hands on Dirk’s waist made it seem longer.  
Knock, knock, knock-knock-knock.

Porrim answers once Dirk thinks she might not be home, and she seems delighted to see him, then even more when she notices Jake beside him.

“Porrim, ‘the English boy,’ Jake, Porrim.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to update, I forgot to write this chapter until this morning, then I didn't have a lot of time with school and a band concert. Please forgive!


	12. The Forest

The meeting with Porrim went as expected, her making a lot of suggestive jokes, Jake turning red every time, which Dirk had to admit was his favorite part. They left about three hours after they arrived, which surprised Jake, but ultimately didn’t phase Dirk. He’s been there longer, and more often. 

They were now walking through the patch of oak trees near Porrim’s house, stealing kisses and holding hands, typical couple stuff. 

“Dirk?”

“Hm?”

“Are you thinking as much about what will happen to us as I am?”

“I can not say I am, dear.”

He sighs, and Dirk’s grip on Jake’s hand tightens for a fraction of a second. 

“I promise that whatever they deem necessary to do to us, we will be together through it. They may take you away from me, but I promise that our bond will not be broken, no matter how much time or distance is between us.” 

Jake smiles nervously, and Dirk pulls him in for a chaste kiss, to calm him down and distract him from what will surely happen in the future. Someone will find out, it’s just a matter of time. Dirk can’t deny that, but he will keep that time at bay for as long as possible. And although he doesn’t say it, he knows Jake understands. 

Suddenly, an ear-piercing cry rings through their ears, followed by a loud sob.

Their hands rip apart and the sound of dirt and leaves crunching fills the wooded plain. 

They arrive at Porrim’s house in under two minutes, despite how far away they were. Red decorated the outside steps, filling the cracks of the dark old wood. Porrim lay motionless at the steps, her upper body on the stairs, her legs twisted on the deck.

“Porrim!” Dirk cries, rushing to her lifeless pale body. Tears cloud his vision as Jake’s arm wrap around him in an attempt to soothe him, help him out of the inevitable anxiety attack. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. His breathing becomes ragged and heavy, and his surroundings suddenly becoming cold and numb. His hands lift from the ground and slide Jake’s hand of his shoulder, not willing for his hand to touch his skin in an inexplicable way he’ll probably feel sorry about later. 

Jake sits beside him awkwardly, wishing more than anything that he knew what to do to calm Dirk down. It hurt him so bad to see his boyfriend like this, and being helpless in the situation doesn’t make it any better. 

The attack doesn’t go as quickly as either of them would have liked, but what were they going to do? Revive Porrim and save Dirk’s quickly deteriorating mental state? Yeah, he didn’t think so.

Dirk had finally taken to clinging to Jake’s side, tears still clearly clinging to his amber eyes. Jake tries to get the ginger out of the area as quick as he could, but it seemed as if Sunshine was mourning too. She wouldn’t budge from her spot beside the house, only moving when Dirk stood up to walk back to the castle. 

“Dirk?” Jake rushes, quickly running to catch up with him.

He doesn’t even look up when he responds, just keeps his hardened eyes on the ground as if the dirt was as some sort of imposter who had done him wrong. Really, his gaze tells it all. “Hmm.”

“...” Jake hadn’t thought about what he was going to say, and blushes as he tries to find something to hopefully calm his boyfriend down from the traumatic experience he had just been through. 

He resorts to gently bringing his hand to wrap around Dirk’s and smiling softly when he looks up at him. “I love you, just know that. I know that she was really important to you, but now she’s...gone. I-I’m...just, don’t live on it, ok? It hurts to see you like this.”

His eyes soften and before Jake knew what was happening, Dirk’s arms were wrapped around him and tears were falling once again, wetting the golden yellow fabric settled on his shoulder. 

This is going to be a long ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm sorry I was gone, but I have figured out most of my plot over the break, and I've decided that I will try to update weekly, but I don't know if I'll get a grip on what day specifically. So, you'll just go a bit without scheduled update for a while. 
> 
> Anyway, see you next chapter! :D


	13. The Courtyard

Days slip into weeks and into months, bringing chilly winds and multicolored leaves with it. Dirk had barely said a word, save for his venom-filled retorts to anyone who wanted to as much as talk to him, and Jake was getting nervous. What was he going to do? Every time he tries to talk to him, he just ignores you, although it looks like he’s listening. Jake thinks he’s known Dirk long enough to know better.

He also thinks he should know how to talk to Dirk after all these years.

But, he doesn’t know how to talk to anyone.

“Dirk, love?” he asks, praying to the gods above he’d listen this time.

“What.” He says, busy at work on a letter. To Meenah, supposedly.

He crawls over to him and wraps an arm around his shoulders and quickly peck his cheek, still quite aware of how many witnesses there might be, laying openly in the courtyard, after all. “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, Jake. You should know with how much you ask me.”

His heart clenches, but he continues anyway. “I know, I just don’t quite like seeing you this down.”

He sighs and kisses the side of Jake's neck, not taking his eyes off of the paper on his lap. “I know you don’t, but you’re going to have to deal with it. Porrim can’t just come back magically. Magic might have evolved over the past few centuries, but we can’t bring back the dead…” His voice drops pitch as his eyes soften. “As much as we might want to.”

Jake sighs in response, knowing this is the best he’s been in quite a while. “Maybe you could be the one to do that.”

Dirk sighs yet again. “I can’t do that, Jake. It isn’t possible.”

“Anything is possible-”

“If you just believe, yeah. Right. Well, I don’t believe.” Dirk’s head turns to look at Jake, and although it covers his words like melted chocolate, no annoyance made an appearance in his eyes. “I’m a realist, Jake. You may see the best in everything but I don’t.”

About that time, David appeared from the doorway outside. “Jake, I have a few messages for you to send, and I would like to talk to Dirk alone.”  
The sun-kissed buy stands, gently taking the three envelopes from David’s arms and whispers, “Be careful with him...please.”  
He nods and sits down next to Dirk as Jake walks inside, but, of course, he couldn’t help but stay by the doorway, just out of sight, to eavesdrop on the conversation. Maybe David will do better than he did.

“What do you want, David.”

“I’ve had my page, Jonathon, tell me a little about trauma. He says talking about it might help.”

Dirk’s eyes flash with unmistakable anger, and his hands clench together in fists. “All you guys want to do is talk! Isn’t it clear I don’t want to? I just want to be treated normally, forget that this ever happened! Is that too much to ask? Just stop treating me like a kid that’s lost his teddy bear!” He stands up and storms to his room, not seeming to not notice Jake when he rushed to send the messages before the king walks back inside and notices that he’s been eavesdropping

The king is a sharp one, that’s for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, but I didn't exactly have much inspiration for this chapter, but, at least Igotit done, right?


	14. Author's Note 2

Hello again, guys! I am terribly sorry to say, but I have to go on yet another hiatus. Yes, another. I haven't had much time with all the homework that's been dumped on me at school, that and I really don't have that much inspiration for the parts of the plot I have to write to get to the good parts I'm excited to write. This time I won't jump the gun on coming back and will actually write a majority of the chapters before I come back. See you then!

**Author's Note:**

> I've written up to nine chapters for this, so once it gets there the update schedule will be wonky, but until then I'll update every Wednesday. See you next chapter!


End file.
